This paper aims to investigate lexical borrowings from ethnic languages to standard Mandarin. Data are collected through daily observation after years of living in Xinjiang, China. The data suggest that phonetic loans and hybrid loans are the major approaches in lexical borrowings from Uyghur, Russian, and Persian. Two motivations behind Uyghur borrowings into Mandarin are discussed: cultural borrowings and core borrowings. Cultural borrowings are new objects, concepts of ethnic origins, which are new to Han Chinese communities. Core borrowings are Mandarin words which have been replaced by Uyghur. However, core borrowings are not associated with the prestige of the donor language in this case; instead, frequency, marker, friendliness, and religious consideration are the major reasons. In addition, this paper analyses the strategies of lexical borrowings from ethnic languages in Mandarin. It further discusses the cultural backgrounds behind lexical borrowings. The lexical borrowings from ethnic languages into Mandarin suggest the openness and inclusiveness of Chinese language and culture.

No abstract

This paper presents an empirical study of the intercultural conflicts that Chinese migrants have experienced in Hungary, so far unexamined in the scientific literature. This study hypothesizes the wall theory, consisting of the visible wall and the invisible wall. The visible wall entails physical and spatial boundaries whereas the invisible wall refers to trust deficit. Our results suggest a visible wall is a ubiquitous concept in Hungarian culture, whereas the boundaries of the visible wall are obscure in Chinese culture. In contrast, the invisible wall is not prevalent in Hungarian culture, yet the invisible wall is a predominant concept in Chinese culture which alienates people in thinking. The concept of wall denotes different meanings in Chinese and Hungarian cultures. The study attempts to provide Chinese overseas with practical knowledge to be aware of the cultural differences and potential strategies to reduce intercultural conflicts.